Gaplus

For the sequel, however, the player can now acquire the Tractor Beam. This is achieved by shooting one of the alien formation’s ‘generals’ – a visibly more colourful alien than its comrades. The Tractor Beam will then activate for a limited time and any aliens the players captures (up to a maximum of six) will dock alongside the player’s ship for enhanced firepower.

One final yet important addition is in the movement of the player’s ship. In previous installments, the ship could only move left and right along the bottom of the screen; in Gaplus, however, the ship can now move UP the screen – although only to the halfway point. This is important as the alien’s aggressive attack patterns will often see enemy craft swirling around the bottom of the play area.

As with “Galaga”, Gaplus features regular ‘Challenging Stages’, with benign aliens swooping across the screen for the player to shoot as many times as possible, in order to try and spell out a word and earn extra bonus points.